Physician Heal Thyself
I will likely be stating the obvious for many who read this, but the purpose is to share how Aquinas is affecting my life, so here’s another piece.
I shared last time about helping the mother and her son (and six other children indirectly). I notice that I see people in need differently now than when I started at Aquinas. I even define “people in need” differently than I did before. I tend to be more Christ-centered now. When Christ is my focus, then I can empathize more. I am less judgmental when I use Him as my model. All of sudden, I can “see” the other person’s story unfold before my eyes. Then the person becomes a brother or a sister in Christ; not just a beggar or a bum.
I’ve listened to sermons and homilies all my life about how church is for the sick people (sinners) and if you’re perfect, then church is not the place for you. However, it finally hit me that church truly is for the people who need healing; especially the ones who believe they are the healers. Aquinas is opening my eyes to exactly how I will be able to serve my parish. However, even the doctor has to get a check-up every once in a while.
It’s not enough to just go to school and think that I will get all I need to know any more than it is enough to just go to church. I need both.
You know, when we go to the hospital, sometimes we get medicine. Well, we all know what the medicine is at church, but if we get off the meds as soon as we leave the church, then we are just the “walking wounded.”
For the first time in a long time I found myself excited about going to Mass to be healed–to receive the body and blood and to go back out and be Jesus to others. Often I am excited about seeing my friends or the youth or hearing a good homily, but not so focused on my time with God. So, yesterday I was excited to be in true worship, but something happened that took me away from Mass and I felt cheated. So, I went to Daily Mass today. It was nice to sit in that mini-community of people who come every day. I almost felt like an outsider among them, though. Still, I feel better having had my dose of Jesus.
What I hope to gain from my time at Aquinas will be the ability to observe what is going on around me for the people of God and the ability to help others get well when they need healing. But don’t worry…I’ll keep going for my check-ups, or else I won’t be any good to anybody else.